The Rage Mage - A Barbarian Spellcaster Subclass

Based on homebrew by Mage Hand Press in Valda's Spire of Secrets, the Rage Mage mixes a Barbarian's standard ferociousness with skill with the arcane. The Rage Mage draws from the Sorcerer spell lists, focusing on Evocation and Transmutation magic that they can bring into combat. Unlike other Barbarians, they can cast spells while Raging... but spells you unlock through this subclass will only work during a Rage.

Your spells key off Charisma much like a Sorcerer. The subclass now has full levels 1-20 support, but tell me if you run into any issues with upcasting.

Compatibility notes: This mod does not require the Compatibility Framework, but it should work with it if you have it installed. Without it, there can be issues with other modded subclasses when multiclassing into Barbarian. (This is a general bug that can affect modded subclasses.)

Features by level

• []Level 3:

  []You can cast or concentrate on spells while Raging, and casting a spell will preserve your Rage. However, spells learnt through this class can only be cast when Raging. (You may use a Rage Charge to activate certain utility spells, like Charm Person, out of combat.)

  []You gain spell slots at the same rate as an Arcane Trickster or Eldritch Knight. Your spell list uses Sorcerer spells that are part of either the Evocation or Transmutation schools. At certain levels, you may learn spells from the full Sorcerer spell list.

  []You can use Constitution instead of Intelligence for Arcana checks.

  • []Level 6: When you are Raging and make a Reckless Attack, you can use a bonus action to trade out your second attack with a spell.

  • []Level 10: You can cast the spells Enhance Jump, Feather Fall, Darkvision and See Invisibility on yourself at will, even when out of spell slots or not in a Rage.

  • Level 14: Once per turn when you hit an enemy with a melee weapon attack, you can expend a spell slot to create a small arcane explosion. This deals Force damage based on the spell slot expended: 2d6 for a 1st-level slot, 4d6 for a 2nd-level slot, etc.

    Multiclassing notes

    Rage Mage spells can be upcasted using whatever spell slots you have available, though they always only work during a Rage. Spells from other sources should work both in and out of a Rage. They'll also keep a Rage going, if it's active.

    As mentioned, this is based off homebrew by Mage Hand Press, available in Valda's Spire of Secrets. Mage Hand have been fairly open to their content being ported to BG3 on their Discord.